Royals' bats struggle at Coors, leading to Lugo's third loss of '24

DENVER -- Coors Field is supposed to be the home of high-scoring games and big offensive outbursts, a pitcher’s nightmare at 5,280 feet above sea level.

The opposite has happened for the Royals this weekend in Denver, and it’s led to back-to-back losses and a series loss ahead of Sunday’s finale.

Seth Lugo continued his All-Star bid and lowered his Majors-best ERA among qualified pitchers to 2.21 with six innings Saturday night, allowing three runs (two earned), walking two and striking out five. He was handed his third loss of the season with the Royals’ 3-1 defeat to the Rockies at Coors Field.

The Rockies entered Saturday with a 5.50 team ERA and 5.8 runs per game allowed at home this season, but they’ve held the Royals to three runs over the past two games.

Rockies starter Austin Gomber allowed just one run -- a solo homer from Vinnie Pasquantino in the sixth – across seven innings Saturday. He didn’t walk a batter and only struck out three, but the Royals were kept off balance and guessing against the southpaw. They went 0-for-4 with runners in scoring position and left seven on base, including big opportunities in the fourth with runners on second and third with two outs and the seventh, with runners on first and third with one out.

“In the fourth, [Gomber] executed some good breaking balls to MJ [Melendez],” manager Matt Quatraro said of Melendez’s strikeout. “In the seventh, he got in on [Garrett] Hampson there on the popup. … When he had to execute, he did.”

Since June 1 and entering Saturday, the Royals offense has a .231 average that ranks sixth-worst in baseball across that span and an 87 wRC+ that ranks fifth-worst. That’s a stark contrast from their .252 average the first two months of the season (seventh-best in baseball) and 100 wRC+ (12th), along with their .411 slugging percentage (sixth).

It’s been a battle to get back to the offense they saw to start 2024.

“It’s always frustrating when you don’t score runs like that,” Hunter Renfroe said. “In any case, we’ve got to continue to play good baseball. … The hitting side will come around. As far as that, we’ve got to be better. We’ve got to go out there and punch first and get back in the dugout when the pitcher gives us a chance. It’s a little bit frustrating, yes.”

Pasquantino put it more succinctly: “We’ve got to be better.”

What doesn’t help is that the Royals have gotten two solid starts from their two best starters in Cole Ragans, who gave up two runs in seven innings on Friday, and Lugo on Saturday. Lugo said he felt a little off mechanically, perhaps because of the bone bruise he suffered on his left wrist last week when he was hit by a line drive. He’s been wearing a compression sleeve all week to help with the recovery, but it’s still sore, he said Saturday.

“Here, your mechanics really need to be crisp,” Lugo said, referencing the altitude in Denver. “If they’re out of whack just a little bit, it’s really hard for pitches to catch, get to the right spot. That’s what I mean by just off a little bit mechanically.”

Still, Lugo gave the Royals another quality start, his 15th of the year. He was tagged with three runs, only two of them earned because of an error charged to third baseman Maikel Garcia on a two-hop throw made to Pasquantino at first base, a strategy to help with the sun setting in the west. Brenton Doyle followed with a two-run homer on a slider that Lugo left in the middle of the zone.

“It was a perfect throw. Everything I asked him to do,” Pasquantino said. “... And if you look at the moment in the game, that changed everything. Seth is rolling. Next batter hits a homer. Now we’re down 2-0. It doesn’t change it now, but I’ve got to catch that ball.”

Lugo saw the third run come across in the fifth when Ryan McMahon, who is now 7-for-14 against Lugo in his career with two more hits and a walk Saturday, singled on a cutter that missed its location.

“You try to pitch him carefully,” Lugo said. “Made a mistake to him. That’s one pitch I wish I got back. Trying to throw it off, and left it over the plate. He got me. I know he’s capable of that.”